Tramway plans back on table from Scottish Ballet By Alistair Smith for The Stage

Scottish Ballet has revived plans to move its headquarters to the council-owned Tramway visual arts space in Glasgow.

The dance company, currently located at premises on West Princes Street, was last year forced to cancel its application for multimillion pound capital Lottery funding from the Scottish Arts Council after the visual arts community lobbied vociferously against its £8 million proposals.

Our first minisite has just gone live! The minisite enables you to learn even more about our programme for Spring and includes production photographs as well as music excerpts. Click herefor Spring Season minisite.

The whole Company is busy learning and rehearsing the repertoire for the Spring Season and we are delighted that Margaret Barbieri and Alexander Grant will be coming next week to work with the dancers on Frederick Ashton's Façade. Margaret Barbieri, former Principal at The Royal Ballet, has staged Façade internationally, whilst Alexander Grant was bequeathed the rights of Façade and La Fille mal gardée by Frederick Ashton himself. We have also just revamped the Company page on the website that we hope you will find easier to use.

We are pleased to welcome Lorena Fernández Sáez to the Company and announce that Sophie Laplane, Viviana Mastrella, Nicola Wade and Luke Ahmet who all joined Scottish Ballet for The Nutcracker tour will also be dancing for the forthcoming season.

THE news that Scottish Ballet are to perform a major Balanchine retrospective at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, supported by the might of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and conductor Kwame Ryan in the pit, is not something which comes as a surprise to those audiences and critics who have remarked upon the electric-charged renaissance at Scotland’s dance HQ over the past two years.

These have been a phenomenal two years for our home-grown company, characterised by an international outlook that few would have credited the company with, despite its strong touring history.

When Scottish Ballet meets Nine Inch Nails Ashley Page has brought the company back from the brink with the help of his quirky new work, writes Anna Burnside for The Sunday Times.

Paul Liburd and Ashley Page sit side by side on a squashy sofa, their shaved heads twisting and turning as they describe “the new work”. Page, Scottish Ballet’s powerhouse artistic director, has created a ballet especially for Liburd, the 36-year-old former Rambert dancer who Michelangelo might have carved from marble.

“We finished it today,” says Page. This does not mean that it is time to form an orderly queue for tickets. “There is a good framework there, the content is interesting. It has dynamics, it has shape, it goes on a journey. We just have to make it hang together.”

Scottish Ballet are pleased to announce the title of the New Page Work which will premiere in Glasgow 13 April. "The Pump Room" is choreographed to Aphex Twin's remix of the Nine Inch Nails track "At the Heart of it All" and is a pulsating and exciting piece created on Scottish Ballet's fine young dancers.

This will form part of the electrifying programme of dance that promises to cater for all tastes this Spring,

Global renaissance is one giant step for Scottish Ballet Dance company’s ambitious mix of classical and contemporary work is attracting a multinational following. By SARAH JONES for Scotland on Sunday:

THE future of Scottish Ballet rests on the company it keeps, both within its own doors and in public. Three years ago its prospects were looking rather bleak. Mediocre performances, uninspiring programming and financial troubles resulted in over-ambitious programmes for which the company did not have adequate resources. But one new artistic director and two years on, and the company has earned a spot at the Edinburgh International Festival after an absence of 19 years. But just how far has Scottish Ballet’s renaissance infiltrated the international dance conscience?

Scottish Ballet is delighted to announce that an application to the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund to help the Company develop plans for a state-of-the-art-dance centre as part of the Tramway complex has been successful. Working with Glasgow City Council, this project will place Scottish Ballet at the heart of a dynamic international performing and visual arts centre, thereby creating a production and presentation facility of a scale and artistic mix unrivalled in the UK. The move to Tramway will enable Scottish Ballet to forge stronger connections to the international arts scene and help to put Scottish dance on the world map.

Iain Munro Head of Capital at the Scottish Arts Council, said:

'When we decided to consolidate our funding for the next three years into one funding round, we wanted to support exciting and ambitious projects that will contribute to the development of Scottish artistic and public life for many years to come. Providing development funding for this project will now allow Scottish Ballet to examine its proposals in more detail, looking at things such as business plans and sustainability as well as its architectural ambitions to develop facilities that will help excite, inspire and transform the lives of both the professional dance community as well as audiences across Scotland.'

Tramway is a unique building in the arts world, owned and managed by Glasgow City Council. Brought back to life for Glasgow’s influential European Year of Culture in 1990, Tramway has gained an international reputation through its association with such artists and companies as Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, La Fura dels Baus, Compagnie C de la B and many others.

The project has developed significantly since initial plans were explored in 2003 and Scottish Ballet now has a scheme that will positively enhance Tramway's role as a centre of excellence without compromising the existing arts spaces. This plan will transform unused spaces at Tramway into studio, workshop, education and office spaces for Scottish Ballet and create the largest centre for dance in Scotland including much needed rehearsal spaces for independent professional dance artists and companies. This project will also benefit the local community with access and outreach programmes forming an integral part of Scottish Ballet’s move to Tramway.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said, “Glasgow City Council is delighted that Scottish Ballet's proposal to develop currently unused spaces within Tramway has received the support of The Scottish Arts Council. Tramway's reputation as one of Europe's leading venues for the performing and visual arts will be enhanced by the presence of Scotland's national dance company. Scottish Ballet will also provide a stimulus to the extensive education and lifelong learning programmes undertaken in the building.”

Scottish Ballet bought and moved into its current premises in 1979, in the company’s tenth year in Glasgow. The building is a converted Territorial Army building that includes a large, double-fronted tenement house and two large ‘sheds’ which formerly housed TA equipment. This was a brave and imaginative move at a time when other dance companies were housed in often poorly kept rented premises. Today the building has many problems. It has major space problems for a company of Scottish Ballet’s size and significantly has insufficient studio space to house all the company’s activity, including the community and education programme that has grown significantly the years.

In addition to Scottish Arts Council funding, Scottish Ballet and its partner Glasgow City Council will be raising the remaining funds with a number of sponsorship initiatives, through public and private investors and funders.

Christopher Barron, Scottish Ballet’s Chief Executive declared, “This is a great day for Scottish Ballet. We have been looking for a new home for some time and Tramway is the ideal location for the Company.”

Page explains that the title grew out of working with the music. "It sounds industrial, like an engine-room. The heart is the engine of the body, the heart is a pump . . ." Join up the thinking and you arrive at the Pump Room.

The Tardis of ballet companies by ISMENE BROWN for the Daily Telegraph

Arts funding economics might soon dictate a need to go more mainstream. But the Glasgow first-night public was impressed by the Balanchine, respectful of the Page, and hugely, relievedly entertained by the Ashton on this enjoyable bill.

Since taking over the Scottish Ballet three years ago, Ashley Page has guided the company to a higher standard, both by revitalizing the company with talented new dancers and also by developing a diverse and challenging repertory. This innovative repertory was reflected in the choice of ballets for the opening night performance of the 2005 Spring Season, which included works by George Balanchine, Frederik Ashton and Page himself.

The evening began with George Balanchine's classic black and white ballet "The Four Temperaments", the four variations loosely based on the humors - melancholic, sanguinic, phlegmatic and choleric. The ballet was first brought into the company's repertory last fall and this performance revealed the dancers' increasing comfort with Balanchine's body contorting choreography. Joanne Bungay and Mark Kimmet brought youthful energy to the First Theme while Eve Mutso and Robert Doherty gave the Third Theme a more mature coolness.

However, the highlight of the ballet was Paul Liburd's solo in Melancholic. Liburd, who joined the Scottish Ballet after years with the Rambert Dance Company, may be in the twilight of his performing career, but what a sunset this is! His performance had a more contemporary edge, but equally as satisfying, though his intense muscularity can break up his line. And, possessed of a body that seems to have no joints, Liburd flowed through the choreography all the way to the final arch-backed retreat from the stage. Brian Prentice played the solo piano.

The evening continued with a trio of ballets by Ashley Page, including the world premiere of "The Pump Room". Set to Aphex Twin's throbbing, percussive score, "The Pump Room" has a powerful, earthly feel, as captured in Page's weighty, intertwining choreography. The piece seemed to travel the course of a day, or perhaps a life, the initial creepy darkness dissipating as the backdrop lifted to flood the stage with light. The light changes shades before dissolving back into darkness.

In his selection of dancers for this new piece, Page highlights two of the company's fascinating male talents, Paul Liburd and Jarkko Lehmus. Both men have a background as rich in contemporary dance as in ballet, and thrive in this offbeat, muscular, vivid ballet. Lehmus and Diana Loosemore in black complemented Liburd and Sophie Martin in deep blue.

The ballet's weakness however is in it's length, which pushed beyond the limits of the unrelenting score. Aphex Twin's music, with it's heavy percussion, becomes tedious, drawing attention away from the choreography and the dancers. Far more successful on this account is "Walking on the Heat", originally choreographed as a part of "Touch Your Coolness to My Fevered Brow". It is set to music by Orlando Gough, which like Aphex Twin's score can eventually seem repetitive, but the piece is short and snappy and thus doesn't outlast the interest of the music. On this evening, the sultry, tango-esque pas de deux, came to life in the hands (and bodies) of the sleek, black-clad Soon Ja Lee and Oliver Rydout.

Page's "32 Cryptograms" closed the program last year in Edinburgh, but finds a much more suitable position as the finale for the trio of Page's works. The company, clad in Jean Morrell's grey-blue vests and pants, whirls and twists in a myriad of dances to "32 Cryptograms for Derek Jarman" by Robert Moran. The eye is drawn to the powerful dancing of Page's men, especially the soaring Erik Cavallari and Jarkko Lehmus and Glauco Di Lieto.

Bringing the evening to a sassy and satisfying conclusion was the company premiere of Frederick Ashton's lighthearted "Façade". Staged by former Royal Ballet dancers Margaret Barbieri and Alexander Grant, the ballet skips through a series of delightful vignettes under the blue sky and some drying laundry. Ashton's delightfully cheeky and clever choreography highlighted the technical and dramatic strengths of this revitalized company.

The rollicking William Walton score starts with a Scotch Rhapsody - much to the delight of the audience - danced with pert cheekiness by Luke Ahmet and his lasses, Louisa Hassell and Viviana Mastrella. Martina Forioso's Swiss Milkmaid, complete with Pippi Longstocking braids, managed to milk her cow, as created by the deft contortions of Robert Doherty, William Smith and Mark Kimmet. Also of note were Glauco Di Lieto and Adam Blyde as a pair of suave gentleman, hoofing it in striped jackets and jaunty boaters, and Claire Robertson and Cristo Vivancos, shiveringly, sillily sexy in Tarantella Sevillana. The complete cast returned for a show-stopping, heel kicking finale, a uplifting conclusion to open what should be a terrific season.

Similarly, Façade sits well with the company. A cute ballet full of cocky blokes in boaters and peachy girls in bodices, Façade offers everyone the chance to relax and enjoy. A giggle here as a toe is wiggled, a chuckle there as the soft shoe shufflers shuffle - this is a sophisticated frolic that transcends its age.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum